Teenage magician, wife arrested for starving newborn to death

The Mainichi Shimbun
November 24, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071124p2a00m0na024000c.html

FUKUOKA -- A teenage magician and his assistant wife have been arrested for allowing their 4-week-old daughter to starve to death, police said.

The magician and his wife, who are both 19 and thus cannot be named in accordance with the requirements of the Juvenile Law, were arrested for neglecting parental responsibilities resulting in death.

Their 4-week old daughter, who was born weighing 2,480 grams but died weighing just 1,800 grams, does not appear to have been fed for the most of the last week of her life, police said.

Police said the teenage parents of the girl born in Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Oct. 25 knew their child was barely taking in any milk and had become dangerously thin, yet they did nothing to seek treatment for her, allowing her to die in their home on Wednesday night.

Police said the girl's body showed no signs of external injury, but was covered filthy.

Police said the parents noticed the girl seemed ill on Wednesday night, but didn't call for an ambulance until the following morning, by which time she was already dead.

（Mainichi Japan） November 24, 2007